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Placenta Previa
Location: Austin, Texas Date: December 23, 1990 Story The 1990 holiday season was especially joyful for Scott and Karen Hoyt of Austin, Texas. They were looking forward to the birth of their second child. Scott had one last tour to make with his country band before the baby was due. So, on the morning of December 23, Karen, who was eight months pregnant, was home alone with her four-year-old daughter, Erica, over Christmas weekend. "We went to the doctor and everything seemed to be real fine. So I left town feeling pretty confident and left her the phone numbers, hotels, and clubs where I would be," remembers Scott. Karen walked into the bathroom, sat down on the toilet, started moaning in pain because she was bleeding. and shouted out to Erica to bring her the phone. "Mommy said, 'Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!' I ran into the bathroom to see what was happening, and there was blood in the toilet. I was really scared," said Erica. Karen tried calling her neighbors to get her to the hospital, but nobody was home because it was the holiday weekend and everyone had gone out of town for Christmas. At 10:34am, Karen called 911. EMT dispatcher Laurie Cash took the call. Karen had been diagnosed with placenta previa. If the placenta ruptured, she could bleed to death without medical care. "When she told us that she had a history of placenta previa and when she was hemorrhaging, in my heart I didn't feel like the baby was going to make it," said Laurie. She instructed Karen to get off the toilet and sit in the bathtub, because if the baby was born, it could have gone into the water. Karen instructed Erica to get her some towels, because there was so much blood. She felt like passing out, and eventually she started losing consciousness. Laurie asked Karen if Erica talked on the phone, Karen said yes and handed the phone to Erica while she sat by her mother's side. Laurie spoke with her, who was very scared and hysterical. She told her to be a big girl, to stay calm, and that she would soon have a brother or sister. "I was trying to make sure that Erica could hear my voice," said Laurie. Within eight minutes of the call, the first rescue workers arrived including EMT Monty Strange. "When we first got to the house, the daughter was standing in the doorway. We walked into the house and saw that Karen was lying in a pool of blood," said Monty. Within a minute, paramedic Will Neily and his partner arrived. "Our concern was that she lost enough blood." said Will. Erica cried while she watched the paramedics put her mother in the ambulance. Karen was taken to Seton Medical Center. On the way, the hospital was alerted about her condition and that of her unborn baby. Nurse Tina Davis was on duty in the delivery room. "We knew she was hemorrhaging and had a previa. We had to get the baby out as soon as possible," said Tina. Karen had to undergo a c-section to get the baby out. "She was extremely pale because she lost so much blood," said Tina. The baby was immediately examined by neurologist Dr. James Creshwell. "She was very limp and not crying. By 60-90 seconds it was in the normal range," said Dr. Creshwell. Five days later on December 28, Karen gave birth to a baby girl who she named Aubree. "It was just the most wonderful feeling," said Karen. "I loved having a baby sister and was real happy. She looked great," said Erica. Six months later, the Hoyt family finally got a chance to meet Laurie Cash and gave her flowers to thank her. "I'd really like to thank Laurie for being there for me and Erica," said Karen. Laurie was glad enough to answer the phone and help Erica. They got to watch Scott and his country band sing. "The career and everything is great. I'm just thankful the way it turned out and it did. Aubree's doing fine. We are a big happy family now," said Scott. Karen thinks that Aubree is a walking miracle. Category:1990 Category:Texas Category:Childbirth Category:Bleeding Category:Holiday Category:Christmas